Cut the Cake

On the eight day of the eight month of the eight year of the third
millennium the Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit saw the light of day
(read our first article: Iggy).

Its initial function, goal or intention wasn't really clear from the
start as has been revealed in an intriguing interview the Reverend had
on the Syd Barrett blog: Solo
en las Nubes. The (Spanish) interview can be read at Autoentrevista
- Felix Atagong: "Un
hombre sincero" but for those ignorants who aren't fluent in the
language of Cervantes an English version can be found at The
Anchor: Felix Atagong: an
honest man.

(Translation) The Church more or less started as a prank. Discussing the
(theoretical) possibility of a Barrett religion on the Late Night forum
I mentioned a Saint Iggy Congregation.

That was in May 2007, but it would take until August 2008 before the
Church published a first article, triggered by Argentinian Dolly
Rocker. In those past three wonderful years magical things happened
to the Church and its Reverend. JenS
and Margaretta Barclay
added some missing puzzle pieces to the mystery of the singer and his
Eskimo Girl (the Church was less lucky with Rusty B. and one of Syd's
1969 temporarily girlfriends Dominique H., but our first rule is to
respect their wish for privacy). The support from Pink Floyd biographer
Mark Blake and Mojo magazine made it possible to locate the mystery
woman who had posed on the rear cover of The Madcap Laughs and – en
passant – to debunk several myths about those days (although it is not
always that easy to revive situations that happened in 1969).

Dozens of contributors and fans of the Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit
have helped with our quest but aren't mentioned here, let it be known
that their names have been encrypted in solid gold in the Church's
secret archives.

Even more: real friendships emerged out of this, not least from Iggy
Rose, whose phone calls to the Reverend are a mixture of roaring
laughter, psychedelic tomfoolery and do sometimes contain, but luckily
not very often, an odd tear drop about long-lost persons and situations.
The future looks bright for the Church although this will not always
result in articles on this place. Our apologies for that. (In the
meantime, you can always check the Holy Church Facebook
page, that publishes unassorted bits and pieces now and then.)

It sparkles and shines

The sparkle that lit the Church's fuse was a 2007 Late Night forum post: Possibility
of new religion, asking if a religion could be based upon the
writings of Barrett. That thread was started by Stanislav (alias
~SVG75~) a Russian Barrett fan who has always flirted with the
boundaries of reality. As a computer graphics programming teacher he has
published several Syd Barrett parodies
in the fine (Belgian) tradition of surrealism and dadaism and this at
several places on the web.

Not unlike Marcel
Duchamp, who painted a moustache on the Gioconda
and gave the ready-made its bawdy title LHOOQ,
Stanislav took existing pictures of Barrett and electronically modified
them, thus creating alternative but non-existent realities in the life
of Syd Barrett.

Stanislav's work has not always been appreciated by the Syd Barrett
community. The average (read: non-anoraky) fan could easily be misguided
by the near-authenticity of some of his pictures and stories and
sometimes only those 'in the know' were able to distinguish the parody
from the original.

Book covers that picture Syd Barrett.

Syd Barrett dot CON

Stanislav's most spectacular guerilla art attack was when his subverted
graphical work infiltrated the official Syd Barrett website.
He fooled the Syd Barrett Estate and Pink Floyd Ltd. by
making them believe his creations were genuine Barrett related artworks
or publications.

The official Syd Barrett website started on the 19th of February 2010
(not taking into account the test page that had been present several
months before) and in the next couple of days different Late
Night punters tracked down several mistakes ranking from the silly
to the stupid.

Dark Globe was the first to spot a non-existent biography that
had crept into the book section:

The books section of the new site lists a book called 'Crazy Diamond' by
Tony Bacon.The cover looks like a Stanislav design.I'm wondering
- is it for real?I can't find reference to it anywhere else.(Taken
from: Syd's
Official site gets a makeover.)

Well spotted.

It was indeed a Stanislav mash-up deconstructing two existing books: Crazy
Diamond by Mike Watkinson & Pete Anderson and London Live
by Tony Bacon (see pictures at the left for the real covers).
That last book is still on the biography list from the official Syd
Barrett website although it is an inventory of bands who played London
clubs from skiffle, rock'n roll and trad in the 1950s to progressive,
pub-rock and punk in the 1970s, passing by at the London venues during
the R&B, folk and psychedelia years (it does have Syd on the cover
though, but isn't a Barrett biography as such).

Another proof that the website's authors didn't (and still don't) have a
clue about what they are publishing. It is a damn disgrace that the best
Syd Barrett biography that has appeared in the last decade, Julian
Palacios' Dark
Globe, isn't put there, but that is probably because the Barrett
Estate are actively sponsoring an 'approved' biography from someone else.

Syd Barrett in Formentera, Stanislav artwork.

Prior to the website launch Mark Jones, the (unofficial) Syd
Barrett picture archivist, had been consulted by Pink Floyd Ltd. to
render his expertise on Barrett and early Pink Floyd photo material. So
he was quite surprised to find many dating errors and another
Stanislav-readymade that had mysteriously placed itself in the art
section of the official Syd Barrett website:

Mark Jones mailed the manager of the Syd Barrett Estate on Sunday, the
21st of February, and by Monday all the errors had disappeared. The
makers of the website never did comment on their mistakes hoping that
the matter would soon be forgotten.

Unfortunately the Holy Igquisition never forgets and the Holy
Church of Iggy the Inuit finds it among its tasks to praise Stanislav
for his impromptu Banksy-like
actions. The fact that his forgeries were published at the official Syd
Barrett site give his works a meta-realistic certificate of
authenticity. Syd Barrett, quite a jokester himself so we have heard,
would probably have liked this very much and is laughing his arse off
from the great gig in the sky.

Stanislav's signature.

When geniuses meet

It was written in the stars that on Friday, the 5th of August 2011,
Stanislav and the Reverend would meet in front of the Brussels Magritte
museum. On that occasion Stanislav handed over a present for the Church
that was immediately digitally immortalised by hordes of visiting
Japanese tourists. The Church and Stanislav will now be for ever bonded
and Iggy Rose has commented on Stanislav's new artwork with the
following unforgettable phrase:

Oh WOWEEEE that is FANTASTIC XXXX

The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit poster by Stanislav.

Let's end this article with the words of a wise man: “In the sunny land
of Belgium Stanislav was forced to eat a Brussels waffle and there was
much rejoicing.”Happy Birthday, Stanislav!Happy Birthday,
Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit!

The Church wishes to thank all the fans and contributors of the Church,
especially the lovely people of the Late Night community from the past
and present. Stanislav and Dolly Rocker for sparkling the fuse, JenS and
Julian Palacios for rolling the ball, Margaretta Barclay and Mark Blake
for adding up to the Iggy Follies. The French connection for putting my
feet back on the ground.And, last but not least: ♥ Iggy ♥.